


Hollow

by firstdoctor



Series: Fundamentals [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, blood and injury in the first chapter, introspective
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:13:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29811009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstdoctor/pseuds/firstdoctor
Summary: A fill-in piece for the Terra Triad incident and its unfortunate aftermath.
Relationships: Lin Beifong & Suyin Beifong, Lin Beifong & Suyin Beifong & Toph Beifong, Lin Beifong & Toph Beifong
Series: Fundamentals [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2191344
Kudos: 14





	Hollow

Lin was hyper aware of everything that occurred in those few moments. She'd felt the cable snap, saw it glint in the sun as the spring-loaded mechanism yanked it back, but being able to _see_ for a split second didn't mean she could react.

Her eyes followed the metal line; slowed down it appeared as if it were floating, while her hands were frozen by her sides.

Her altered perception of time shattered when she felt something graze her jaw. The impact was enough to tilt her head back a few degrees, and the delayed pain registered a tick later.

An anguished cry left her throat, hands immediately flying to the wound. Her mind was reeling just like her cable; winding too fast, thrown in an unexpected direction and left to play catch-up.

She felt a gouge beneath her palm and quickly removed her hands, aware of the bacteria she'd just introduced.

She stared at the scarlet staining her palms, vaguely aware that meant she'd also smeared it across her cheek.

Lin looked up at her little sister, saw her fear mirrored right back on Su's smaller face.

(It wasn't the same look. Toph's genes weren't so dominant that the two girls had identical features. But it also wasn't for the same reason.

Lin had always looked after Su, whether the younger one cared for it or not. The elder daughter excelled in every task put in front of her, be it school, work, training, you name it, but she could seemingly never succeed in relation to her sister.

The aptitude in all subjects outside of family made that chink especially bothersome. Lin, recently turned twenty one, approached it like any other problem she'd faced; with a staunch belief that dedication and persistence could resolve any issue. She pushed and pushed for Su to fall in line, never stopping to see the damage she was causing instead.

The more Lin tried to make her aware, the less Su listened. Her fear stemmed from the belated realization that it was partly she who forced Su into running with a _gang_. That her sister's hatred for her ran so deeply that Lin now felt it physically, because she was too obtuse to sense it festering before.

Su, only fifteen, saw only vindication. She'd _wanted_ to cut the cable instead of bend it, for that represented her ability to break free of Lin's shackles. Although her intent hadn't been to harm her sister, in the seconds prior she'd wished she could. _That_ , the fact that it came true, scared her, as well as the escalation of the situation.

It's true Toph may have let her Triad stint slide. _May have_. But harming Lin? No matter how much Su cruelly implied otherwise, Toph did care for her; appreciated her intelligence, her talent for bending both earth and metal, her unwavering moral compass. Their mother would never overlook a physical attack upon one of her children, especially if it was inflicted by the other.

Su was, for the first time, in trouble, and that was frightening.)

Lin turned away first, focusing instead on the two scoundrels she'd grappled before. Without Su in her sight, she felt an unease she'd only experienced chasing suspects, that Su may still be angry enough to hurt her once more. But she charged forward like the boar on the Beifong crest, wrestling the closer thug into a standing position before herding him into the back of the Satomobile.

The tie didn't melt from his wrists, a boulder didn't hit her back, and Lin took it as a good enough sign to repeat the process for the second guy.

"Don't even think about trying anything, dipshits." she shut the door hard, wincing as the movement of her jaw brought on a flare of pain.

The face contained many capillaries, as well as a number of important veins and arteries. Facial wounds often looked far worse than they were because they bled so much.

She wasn't sure how deep she'd been cut, but she knew the sight could make any fresh-faced rookie faint.

Drops of blood fell from her chin, colouring her black uniform and the orange clay road. She ignored the trail down the side of her neck, seeping into her collar and undershirt, only stopping to dab at her chin.

Lin turned slightly, over her left shoulder, and caught Su with the corner of her eye. The smaller girl hadn't moved though the startled look was gone, replaced with her usual scowl. Her arms, crossed over her chest, really completed the look of a defiant toddler who's been scolded.

"Go home, Su." Lin said, lacking the sharp force it once would have contained. It wasn't a command, but a dismissal. Su had clearly been expecting the former, and when the jab didn't come she could only stare.

Lin entered the drivers side, hands flexing on the wheel. She let a moment pass before forcing her eyes up to the rearview mirror, and a strangled gasp left her once saw her reflection.

Her skin was sliced from the jaw up to the bridge of her nose, two jagged lines instead of the one she'd pictured. She could actually see how the flesh split, and blood had begun to congeal around the edges.

Her mouth set in a line, this time unbothered by the burn, and she turned the car on. It took everything in her not to floor it, and instead the car accelerated smoothly (and at a legal speed) towards the station.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even write a whole lot of angst these two just happen to be the parts I've completed so far.


End file.
